Coastal Petroleum Co. v. United States

The last aspect of this protracted public taking case comes before this court on defendant’s motion for summary judgment on Count II of plaintiffs petition.1 The decisive issue is whether plaintiffs claim is time-barred. We hold that plaintiffs cause of action accrued more than six years before the present claim was filed, and consequently grant defendant’s motion.

Plaintiff, Coastal Petroleum Company, filed its original claim against the government in 1972, alleging a taking for the public use without just compensation. The taking, plaintiff claimed, occurred when the government built a levee…